Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice, a martin Foundation of Elkhart celebrating the Spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.

Introverted Nina Hill, the only child of a single mother, is pulled, both kicking and passive aggressively resisting into a new family and a new relationship.

She likes being prepared in advance for everything, and every day she makes a schedule of all of her activities, and she loves being on a trivia team.

Our book is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman.

Let's welcome Laura Horst, who also loves to read, among other things.

Thank you.

I'm so glad you suggested this book.

It's quirky.

It is quirky and funny.

It's funny.

And we all have someone in our family like Nina Hill.

That's right.

Everybody does.

She--just explain how she is, what kind of person she is.

I think she is, she's quiet.

She enjoys being alone.

She is--she enjoys being with people, too.

She is an employee at a bookstore, loves books, and is part of this trivia team.

So she does like people.

She does.

But her days are very typical, though.

And we found out what she eats by reading her schedule.

And, you know, it's not much and it's not very amplified.

Right.

But we're going to try to replicate these snacks that Nina has on and off and maybe some days she doesn't eat at all.

That's what you said to me.

Yeah.

So lots of different fun things, though.

I'm going to make some individual pizzas, so build your own if you have it with your family or friends, grandkids, whatever.

And each person can kind of decide what they want on their pizza.

Right.

Because she did like pizza.

She did.

And she liked-- let's see.

I'm not sure.

Oh, she likes smoothies.

Yes.

So today I am going to make a smoothie out of a low fat yogurt, and I'm going to add some juice, some pineapple, mango and chopped fruit and very little sugar in it.

But you can add your own sugar.

You know how you can do your own things here.

So it's going to be a noisy part of the show.

And then I love--I love to replicate the fact that she likes popcorn and I'm going to pop it in the microwave.

And believe it or not, I had a practice last night.

I've never made it in the microwave.

And then we're throwing in a little snack that I had when I was at a French woman's house.

She said, The French people love these little goldfish and they serve them with champagne.

That's great.

So, isn't that a great idea?

But of course, she doesn't have the champagne in the--in the story.

So you're going to start you're going to dry fry, Watch this.

I'm cutting some eggplant.

And I took one of the longer skinny eggplants, the Japanese kind of variety eggplants.

And I kind of cut them on the bias and putting them in with nothing else into this--into this pan.

That is a nonstick pan.

So it just takes a couple of minutes.

We're going to browned them on each side.

I have a couple that I've already done.

You can kind of see how they're brown.

They're not really fully cooked, but you can--there at least part way--part way ready.

And then we're going to just use, I chose a couple of different breads to be our base, our pizza crust, so that you can run into the store.

If you can get naan bread.

I have naan bread that's nice and thin individual size.

Or if pita bread is more easy--easier, available, that's a really great choice too.

So either will work for our pizza crust.

If you have people that have allergies, I know you can get individual pizza crust that are gluten free, for example, other things like that.

I didn't any of that this morning, but--.

And this is really a great idea.

When my children were small, we didn't have the naan, you know.

We used a muffin, the English muffins.

And they made their own pizzas.

But this is more fun, there's more variety and you can if your children don't eat meat, you can make them.

And tell us about your homemade pesto.

Oh, so I made some pesto to bring today because I like that as--as an alternative for the base, for as a tomato base.

So some of them will put tomato paste on that already has the seasoning in it.

So it's pretty easy to just grab at your grocery store.

But the--the pesto is basil, fresh basil, some garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and then salt and pepper.

And you just sort of, oh, you can--you can adjust the levels till it gets not too runny, not too thick.

And that's in a food processor.

Ready?

I'm almost ready here.

And I'm going to start making a noise so you can tune down your--your volume if you want.

And I--I know a lot of people have these in the morning.

Do you have smoothies?

I don't have them in the morning, but they're great for other times.

And this, I like Greek yogurt, but mine is no fat.

And then just the simple fruit drink and some chopped up fruit.

And so I think this looks pretty good.

So these are ready to flip.

I just left them not very long at all on kind of a higher heat.

And you see they're getting nicely brown.

So you don't want to walk away or talk on the phone in another room because the dry frying can sneak up on you.

And you have burnt food.

Well, that wouldn't be very good.

No.

So I think these are just about ready.

I'll wait for the second side and then those will be good.

So a typical day--day for Nina is to get up, talk to her cat.

Right.

Her cat's named Phil, I thought that was great.

And then she goes to the book shop and she categorizes things and does some research, and she has friends there, and they--they all go out to eat, maybe for lunch or they'll read in the back.

And then she booms up for her trivia contest.

Tell me about these trivia games.

Well, some restaurants or bars or other places would have a--a time where you can bring a team and then it's like a contest.

They would have a list of questions, you answer as a team and you compete with other teams.

So it's kind of a fun thing.

You could do it as a family if you wanted, like a family reunion.

We did that one time and you compete and see who is--who is answering the questions.

But they're a little more serious.

They have a team that--that's pretty, pretty serious about it and captains and lots of--.

And they compete for maybe your chocolate bar or pizzas for the year.

I mean it's not like let's just go play trivia.

They-- they practice and she, she meets someone at this--at these games.

His name is Tom.

And what does she not like about him initially?

Well, I think she doesn't think--I think she just thinks he's a jock.

And all he knows about is sports.

She doesn't know much about him, but she's physically attracted to him.

Yes, but she would never, ever let him know because it's just not serious.

And so this is her life.

And she has two intrusions in her life that make her step back and say, is this what I'm going to be for the rest of my life?

Although I don't even think she questions that.

It kind of--.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know either.

We all know someone like this.

Every family has someone that's like, you know, introvert and likes to read.

I mean, I think if I didn't have a schedule, I would just be reading all the time.

So I do have to make a schedule and I wouldn't get anything done.

So you're going to do some tomato paste?

I am.

I'm just taking tomato paste.

And this has already some--it has some herbs already in it.

I'm just using the back of my spoon to smooth it around.

So I'm going to do one with the tomato paste and I'm going to do a second one with the same kind of process with the pesto.

I'm just using the back of my spoon.

Isn't this nice?

I'm just going to spread it around.

And then depending on what you would like on your pizza, that's your next--that's your next step.

So are you interested in a vegetarian pizza?

Yes, I am.

All right.

So then I'm just going to take one of these eggplants that we just did.

I'm just going to put it right there.

I might put one on this one, too.

But then let's say--let's say that you maybe you want some meat on one of them.

So we're just going to put a couple of pieces of pepperoni just for whatever you have.

You don't have to have a lot of stuff.

I actually brought brought some mozzarella balls.

So we're going to.

And those things are so adaptable to a caprese salad.

And something like this, it's just great.

And I have a few peppers that were already cut up, so we're going to put peppers on this one and maybe we'll cut a mushroom or two.

Let's do it.

Okay.

And you know, your children would love making this.

And I've taken a picture of your mise en place.

You know, how you set up everything.

And I think I'll try that with my grandchildren.

Cool.

So now I'm just--on this one.

I'm just going to put a little bit of mozzarella cheese just--just a little.

And this one has a little already, so maybe we'll even put a little Parmesan cheese, and those two are ready so I can make a couple more.

This other intrusion, you were going to talk about--.

Oh, yes.

The first one is this this person she meets.

But it never crosses her mind that he might be somebody interesting to go.

Wow, that's not in her everyday life.

But he keeps reappearing, doesn't he?

And the second intrusion, lo and behold, she gets a phone call from a lawyer's office, finds out that she's inherited some money from a father she never knew.

Never knew she had.

She didn't--well, she knew she had a father somewhere in her life.

But she didn't know who he was.

Right.

Exactly.

And her mother never talked about him.

So here she is.

She's going to be asked to come in and meet this family in the lawyer's office.

Now, for someone who likes a life that's well-organized, she likes her life more than organized.

It has to be predictable.

But we're going to stop right there for a minute and we're going to continue with some of our cooking here.

We want to show you a concept of a picture of what Nina might look like, and then we'll be right back.

And we're back.

Well, of course we're back.

The book is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

And we're finding out a lot more about her as things start moving in her life.

And before we we serve our smoothies, I want you to know we have another snack food here.

We didn't make it, but goldfish are very popular, so there they are.

Now, before we were saying that Nina was called in to a lawyer's office and she is to meet a family.

She is not really told much of anything.

But what happens before she gets to the lawyer's office.

She gets this call.

She finds out she has this family.

Then she gets this call from her nephew, Peter, who meets--wants to meet her for coffee.

And she's a little bit worried and anxious about it.

Who is Peter?

But then--But then it turns out really great and that they have a lot of things in common.

And she realizes that when she's talking with him, she relaxes.

She does.

And this is very unique for her.

And he puts her at ease.

And I think they both have a strain of quirkiness.

And I think the author did that on purpose.

Make them similar.

Don't have her meet the oh, who is the other one?

That was so nasty.

Lydia?

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

Well, she walks into the lawyer's office and she's almost attacked by this Lydia Who's afraid of what?

Well, she doesn't want to share the money.

I think that's what it comes down to.

I think-- yes.

But she also is anxious.

It turns out that Nina has a lot of similarities with this family.

She never knew, like personality traits like loving books, like being anxious, all kinds of other interesting things.

And yes, many of them are full of anxiety.

And I think a lot of people are.

I think it's--it's some kind of a marketing ploy that everybody is happy and we're the only ones that aren't.

You know, and so you must take this or wear this and you'll be happy.

And--and so, like you say, well, this is nice now.

So you're going to use it to make a couple more.

Right, a couple more.

I've got a couple more so that when the--when the oven's ready, then we can just throw them in.

And we're going to bake them for seven minutes.

Right.

Seven minutes at 400 degrees.

And I'm putting some pieces of just fresh tomato on too.

I just love how that turns out.

Isn't this fun?

This is nice.

And, you know, I always think if you have naan bread, you have to make an Indian meal, you don't have to.

You can make pizza.

So I've learned this today and I learned about the trivia and you'll say, well, where have you been?

Well, I've been reading my books.

I stayed in all winter.

I read books.

But let's talk now about her going into the office.

And she is--she finds out she's inherited money from this father she didn't know, never met him because he married three times and--.

And her mother didn't really want--needed to have this family.

She wasn't--her mother was very independent, was a photographer, traveled the world, took her with her until she really couldn't.

And then--and then she had this Louise, who was this great nanny, basically, who was her whole life then.

Yes.

And that was her family.

But so now she meets this other family that--.

Oh, this is for a person who is really introverted.

Oh, it's--I think it's time we should--.

I've got them about ready.

We've seven minutes to go.

Yes, let's put them in.

All right.

Yeah, I'll help you.

Okay, great.

So seven minutes?

All right, then we'll discover what these charming pizzas are like.

And I'm ready to do something else again.

Very simple.

And as I said, I have never popped corn in the microwave, have you?

I have.

Well, see, my life is now going to be complete.

I'm popping popcorn in the microwave, and they said every machine is different.

So I'm starting at two minutes, two and a half minutes here.

So I read the instructions and I'm shaking this up a little bit and we'll put it in here.

Do you have any other hints that I should know about?

Not particularly.

Kind of depends.

I think it's it's fairly easy.

And a lot of families probably do it for their movie night.

And part of the reason we're doing popcorn is because Nina and her friends from trivia, one of the things they like to do together was go to movies.

Yes.

And she even accidentally ran into Tom, who she was a little bit nervous about whether or not she would get a relationship going with him.

He was then at the movie theater, too, and her friends kind of were trying to set her up with him so that it was more interesting.

For an introverted person, you don't want to be set up because she but she would plan before she did things how things were going to happen and she'd go from A to B to C, and all of a sudden, her life is becoming, you know, unpredictable.

And that's hard to deal with.

And--and she still writes in her calendar every day, everything she's going to do.

And so slowly things start to change.

She--she does encounter one nasty relative in the lawyer's office, this Lydia, who is afraid she's going to lose something.

She won't get all of the money.

And so they continue to do trivia.

And she sees Tom now and then.

And then, who makes the first step there?

For her and Tom?

I think actually it was all up to her friends who sort of set her up.

And then it was a challenge.

They were doing a trivia night thing.

And of course, he is on one team and she is on another team.

They're competing and they sort of did a bet.

Well, if we win--we're going to win.

And then she he said we're going to win.

And then she said, well, let's make a bet.

Who wins dinner at Denny's?

Which was really great because they both realized that they liked Denny's.

That would be their choice, restaurant of choice, which, you know, was different than--than most people's restaurants of choice, but at the same time a great connection for them, something else that they have in common.

They kept finding things.

I've got to pay attention.

I think it might be no longer popping.

Time to take it out.

Yeah.

I hope it's not burned.

Oh, I think it will be fine.

And what I'll do is just shake it around a little bit.

I am not going to open it, but I have a terrible dread of her.

We can open it.

Let it-- let it get cooled down a little bit before he poured in your bowl.

I think there are a few that might have been a little over done here, but we'll see.

So here we are.

Slowly, slowly.

She starts to meet people in the family.

She sees Tom now and then, and they they go out, they go to the movies, and then they do some other things.

And then, of course, you know, she has to pull back because this is not expected.

Well, and she's a little bit nervous about it.

She's anxious.

So and it's not in her schedule.

And her schedule is really the thing that keeps her going.

And actually, even in the book, at the beginnings of chapters or sections they put, they show her schedule.

So you see where she's writing down what's--what's my to do list?

What do I need to buy at the store?

What am I eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

And as you go through the book at the beginning, it's pretty organized.

And near the end it's like she writes 'and what are you having for dinner?'

She writes, No idea.

And that's a signal, isn't it?

Yeah.

What's happening to her?

Yes.

She is making room for a little bit of spontaneity.

It's not so bad is it.

Yeah.

She's she's finding that she's enjoying it and she has these relatives and she's she also talks a little bit about her relationship with these relatives and this brand new feeling of security when she's around somebody that she didn't know very well.

But it feels like home for her or like family.

And she that's a new, like you said before, that's a really new thought for her.

It is a new thought for her and to look forward to things and to anticipate.

Before it was, 'Oh, I've got that on the list so I can do it'.

And I'm wondering, are we asking too much of her?

Is the author asking too much of her?

I mean, pushing her.

Pushing her?

Yes, maybe.

But if she had gone for some counseling, they probably would have said the same thing.

Yeah.

No space for spontaneity.

Don't plan every minute, but that for an introvert, that means you're busy and it makes her feel secure.

So we have a lot of things going on in this book, and it's charming.

It's a charming book.

Nobody makes fun of anybody except that Lydia.

She's, oh, she's so worried that this interloper is going to ruin the family.

And there are some sweet parts about the bookstore, too, where she works a couple really nice.

Like she has made she has created all these different book clubs, even for kids.

And which is really, I mean, great.

She has a book club for first graders, I think, or something, and her connection with them.

And so she's filled her life with these books.

They have some interesting dynamics about the bookstore, and there was rent that was back due and some other kind of folds for that, too.

And the man wants to get the building back.

Because they aren't making enough money and they have to work around that.

When he comes to get the rent, they they pull the owner out into the back room and have her do something so she doesn't have to.

She got put.

There.

Right.

Trying to hide her from the the owner who's trying to collect the rent.

So there definitely is a lot going on, just like a lot going on here.

And look, we could have another two pizzas, couldn't we?

So you can just make them as you go.

However many you need for your family.

And so we are about ready now to make our final presentation.

We want to show you the menu and so you can really copy all these snacks that you probably do anyway.

So we'll be right back.

And here we come with the piece de resistance or the four piece de resistance.

Look at these wonderful pizzas.

Marvelous.

Look at this.

Ready for lunch, or dinner, or a snack.

Yes.

Oh, snack.

Oh, my gosh.

No.

That's a meal.

That really is for me.

It's wonderful.

And I think families would have fun.

Oh, well, you probably are doing this with you and your husband are making these together, aren't you?

And for family, too?

Yes, sure.

And that's just great.

This has been an interesting, quote, meal.

It's full of snacks.

And but, you know, this is how our heroine of the story lived her life.

Not very, you know--she had it down on paper, but she didn't really try anything different, did she?

In fact, to try something different is a real struggle.

And what we find out as the book goes on?

Can she adapt more readily?

Well, we hope so.

We've got things coming.

She does have things coming.

And part of me wonders if people who are in this world a certain way, can they really change?

That's a good question.

That's a really good question.

I don't know the answer to that.

She's trying.

She was trying.

She is trying.

And I think there'll be some starts and stops.

But she is contented now with herself in this gets better and better.

Oh, let's talk about here.

Here, talk about your little salad.

I threw some of the leftovers into a little salad, just a little Caprice salad because we had that.

We brought the chocolate croissants because a couple of times in the book they go for coffee and a croissant or they have chocolate.

She had chocolate written down on her list almost every time for something to purchase at the store.

Then I made the individual pizzas and you want to--?

Oh, and I did some smoothies.

We need some fruit and of course, more snacks, popcorn.

And she did that and I added the goldfish.

That can be any snack time.

So I like the book.

Did you?

I did too.

It was a really nice light read, a lot of fun, very quick and kind of has a happy ending.

Or at least the idea of a happy ending.

The suggestion, yes.

So thank you for joining us.

Thank you for suggesting the book and doing this wonderful pizza.

And remember, good food, good friends, good books make for a very good life.

We'll see you next time.

This WNIT Local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and the Alice, a martin Foundation of Elkhart celebrating the Spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.